Post by L Roebuck on Aug 31, 2006 11:58:31 GMT -5
Bugti's body to be retrieved soon
The body of slain Baloch leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti has been found according to agency reports.
Pakistani soldiers searching a cave in Kohlu in southwest Balochistan province have found the body but expect to retrieve it in a day or two as it was pinned under a boulder.
A local daily reported that the soldiers had to crawl deep into the collapsed cave before they could locate the body.
The Pakistan army had said earlier this week that a guide had told them that Bugti was in a cave.
When officers went inside the cave to negotiate with Bugti, a loud explosion was heard and the cave collapsed, killing those present in the cave.
Supporters of Bugti have been demanding that the govt hand over his body.
Pakistan's defence spokesperson Major General Shaukat Sultan said the army already knew that the body of the Baloch leader was inside.
"We already knew that his (Bugti's) body was buried inside the cave and rescue teams have been working hard to enter deep inside the cave without causing further collapse of the structure," said Sultan.
He, however, declined to comment on a report stating that two soldiers who managed to crawl inside spotted the body.
Tense Balochistan
A tense calm prevails over Balochistan, days after Bugti's killing in his cave in a Pakistan military operation.
After an initial backlash in which locals vandalised shops and called for a strike, the local political establishment has reacted strongly calling it "the worst example of state terrorism."
At a news conference in Quetta, the 12-party Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy asked the international community to take note of the delay by the Government in handing over Bugti's body to his family.
They demanded a political resolution to the Balochistan problem.
Article
The body of slain Baloch leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti has been found according to agency reports.
Pakistani soldiers searching a cave in Kohlu in southwest Balochistan province have found the body but expect to retrieve it in a day or two as it was pinned under a boulder.
A local daily reported that the soldiers had to crawl deep into the collapsed cave before they could locate the body.
The Pakistan army had said earlier this week that a guide had told them that Bugti was in a cave.
When officers went inside the cave to negotiate with Bugti, a loud explosion was heard and the cave collapsed, killing those present in the cave.
Supporters of Bugti have been demanding that the govt hand over his body.
Pakistan's defence spokesperson Major General Shaukat Sultan said the army already knew that the body of the Baloch leader was inside.
"We already knew that his (Bugti's) body was buried inside the cave and rescue teams have been working hard to enter deep inside the cave without causing further collapse of the structure," said Sultan.
He, however, declined to comment on a report stating that two soldiers who managed to crawl inside spotted the body.
Tense Balochistan
A tense calm prevails over Balochistan, days after Bugti's killing in his cave in a Pakistan military operation.
After an initial backlash in which locals vandalised shops and called for a strike, the local political establishment has reacted strongly calling it "the worst example of state terrorism."
At a news conference in Quetta, the 12-party Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy asked the international community to take note of the delay by the Government in handing over Bugti's body to his family.
They demanded a political resolution to the Balochistan problem.
Article